Friday, September 04, 2015

Broderie Perse, Palampores and Mary’s Quilt Shop!

I snuck into Wednesday’s Palampore and Broderie Perse class at Mary’s Quilt shop!

I thought that since everyone was just coming back from lunch they wouldn’t mind if I just slid right in the door and took a back seat as if I belonged there….like that worked!

It was fun to meet everyone, especially the group who had driven up from Greenville, SC to spend a couple of days at Mary’s Quilt Shop Retreat Center, right above the shop! They were also very busy learning what they could from Mary about antique applique quilts and a technique called Broderie Perse.
For those who don’t know about Broderie Perse, the description is simple. Take a large floral print ((Fabric was very expensive during the Colonial period and the early 1800s here in America)) and make it go further by cutting apart the motifs –Flowers, birds, leaves and other elements and applique them down in an artistic manner of your choosing.

We spent time looking at some of Mary’s old old favorites:

An early applique quilt featuring Broderie Perse.

Appliques mostly intact, some wearing away.

It’s not unusual for Mary to whip out a quilt from the 1700s and spread it on the floor for us to look at and learn from. That is one of the things I love about her. She is very giving of her time and free with her inspiration!

Check out the bird!

Needleworkers would cut out the elements from the piece of fabric, and often times use a button hole or a satin stitch to apply these down by hand, without turning the edge under as in traditional needle turn applique. The stitches are so close to each other to cover the raw edges of the fabric it does look like someone used a satin stitch with a sewing machine.

Remember, there was no fusible available in this time period!

Fabric wearing away, leaving the stitching in place.

Amazing work!

Another Broderie Perse example…note the border on 3 sides only!

Dated 1840 – check out the toile print!

There are Broderie Perse flowers on these stems!

See how the motifs were applied?

Another floral spray.

Applied with a herringbone stitch.

Beautiful faded flowers!

Border too long? No problem. Whack it!

A Very early Palamopre.

This is the kind of panel that many Broderie Perse motifs would have been cut from. This is a whole panel.

Palampore Quilt!

This quilt is a shop sample using Mary’s Palampore designed for Windham Fabrics. The word Palamore simply means bed covering. This Palamore combines many elements from an original owned by Mary that dates to 1775.

Now those who WANT to replicate early Broderie Perse quilts CAN thanks to Mary’s Palampore panel.

The panel is 47’’ x 87’’

Mary Demonstrating cutting of the panel.

Cutting elements from the fabric!

The ladies were having a great time deciding how to arrange their bits and pieces on a design of their own!

Mary had many samples in the class as well, for ideas as what you can make from different elements of the Palampore panel:

Small wall hanging.

From another section.

Flowers framed with piecing.

A small class sample flying bird cut from the panel.

Mary’s Palampore folded and hanging.

For more information on the Palampore panel, visit Mary’s website HERE.

Enjoyed the quilt lesson! Watching all the fussy cutting must make you salivate for the trimmings! Saw some interesting neutral scraps in the making......were the students saving their scraps for future use??

That was very informational! Love seeing the Antique Quilts you share. It's Day 3 of Sewing all day at teh County Fair for me. I'm doing the 'Go Four It Challenge' and showing them how to spin those 4-patches. Fun stuff in Scrappy!!! Have a great class today and enjoy your solo sewing time later!

I'm in the process of doing a Disappearing Nine Patch Hello Kitty quilt for my daughter in law, hopefully to finish it in time for Christmas - I think I will utilize this technique for the label on the back side as an interesting touch, and a small way to try the technique and see if I like it. Great article, Bonnie, as always!

I'm enchanted by Broderie Perse, but I still think it would be awfully hard to cut up this beautiful panel- much at least. I think I'd make a anyone along the lines of Mary's Tree of Life, but I'd try to come up with an extra border with some festoons like those in the antiques shown in the flip book. I live in Sweden so I'd be happy to foot the shipping if my name came out of the hat! lizzietillstrom at gmail dot com

I am a retired Army officer and I am now collecting vintage and antique machines. I have about 60+ machines dating from 1860 to 1898. All are usable and I quilt with all of them. I have been wanting to try my hand at broderese perse for a long time. If I win I will cut up the panel and attempt my hand at a real bed covering. I will use the blanket stitch for the applique. This is a wonderful panel for my next project. Great article on this technique and what beautiful quilts. Thanks Skip